“The Lottery”Shirley Jackson

Notes on the story

Ancient Ritual Sacrifice• In ancient Athens, Greece, Athenians believed that

human sacrifice promised fertile crops. • Each year in ancient Athens, as one story goes, during the

annual festival called Thargelia, citizens would stone to death a man and a woman selected for this purpose.

• Death is thought to bring prosperity to the community• By transferring one's sins to persons or animals and then

sacrificing them, people believed that their sins would be eliminated, a process that has been termed the "scapegoat" archetype

• A similar ritual sacrifice occurs with Tessie Hutchinson.• This explains the village member's remark, “Lottery in June,

corn be heavy soon.”

Historical/Sociological Context• During World War II, Jews and other targeted groups

were torn from their communities and sent to their death while the world stood by in silence.

• In “The Lottery,” Tessie is similarly suddenly ostracized from and killed by members of her own community.

• A few of the townspeople disagree with the ritual, but they merely mutter their displeasure under their breath, afraid to speak out more boldly against the practice.

• Not only do humans blindly perpetrate evil, the story tells us, but they are also capable of closing their eyes to and even participating in terrors that occur in their midst.

“Let he who is without sin, cast the first

stone"• “The Lottery” certainly alludes to Gospel of St.

John, 8:7, in which Jesus frees an adulterous woman, directing the scribe/Pharisee who is without sin to cast the first stone. No one throws stones at her.

• Unfortunately, no one in “The Lottery” rebukes the powers so forthrightly as Jesus does in John 8:7. Tessie becomes their scapegoat; she pays for their sins.

POV: 3rd Person Objective• There is very little conflict in the story—only

Tessie’s objections present any conflict at all.• At the end of "The Lottery," the reader

discovers with horror what is about to happen, but the story ends with the casting of the first stones. Jackson prefers to leave the gruesome details to the reader's imagination.

• The conflict occurs within the reader as the reader notes foreshadowing in the story with growing uneasiness

Male vs. Female• A conflict between male authority and female

resistance is subtly evident throughout “The Lottery.”

• Early in the story, the boys make a great pile of stones in one corner of the square, while the girls stand aside talking among themselves, looking over their shoulders at the boys.

• When Tessie draws the paper with the black mark on it, Tessie does not show it to the crowd; instead her husband Bill forces it from her hand and holds it up.

Women’s roles• Tessie Hutchinson defies the

concept of the passive and selfless woman.

• Tessie's actions are decidedly unlike the behavior expected of the ideal wife and mother in the era. Tessie is hardly self-sacrificing.

• She even jeopardizes her married daughter by suggesting that she join the Hutchinson family in the final lottery drawing.

Mob violence• The heinous actions exhibited in groups

(such as the stoning of Mrs. Hutchinson) do not take place on the individual level, for individually such action would be deemed "murder."

• On the group level, people classify their heinous act simply as "ritual."

• When Mrs. Hutchinson arrives at the ceremony late, she chats sociably with Mrs. Delacroix. Nevertheless, after Mrs. Hutchinson falls victim to the lottery selection, Mrs. Delacroix chooses a "stone so large" that she must pick it up with both hands.

• Whereas, on the individual level, the two women regard each other as friends, on the group level, they betray that relationship, satiating the mob mentality.

Foreshadowing…• Setting is idyllic; readers expect the lottery to be a

positive experience• Some of the boys create a "great pile of stones in one

corner of the square."• the men of the village arrive they stand away from

the stones, joke quietly, and smile instead of laugh.• since the lottery is to take only two hours, the villagers

plan to be home in time for lunch. (how can they eat after this?)

• Mr. Summers, a jovial man who conducts the lottery ceremony, sets the tone of the event with both his name and his mannerisms.

• The lottery takes place every year when the nature cycle peaks in midsummer, a time usually associated with cheerfulness.

Symbolism• Black: the color for death, mourning,

punishment, penitence in western civilization. • The black box used to draw lots and the slip of

paper with a black mark pointing out the 'winner' are mentioned too frequently to be coincidental.

• Black box: coffin? Evil secret hidden away?• Black spot on paper: sin? A “black mark” on

one’s record is negative; black mark: unclean?

Symbolism• Stones are a universal symbol for punishment, burial,

and martyrdom: they indicate a morbid ceremony. • Chips of wood: now discarded for slips of paper,

suggest a preliterate/ancient origin, like the ancient sacrificial rituals for crops.

• The setting: no specific name/place indicates this is anytown, USA; the contrast of the town with the ritual helps build suspense

Themes• (almost done…)

• Not all rituals are beneficial, positive or civilized

• Acts of violence, hatred, murder are not acceptable just because many people participate

• Traditions and rituals should be questioned; group mentality can be harmful

• People are not all good or all evil but a mixture of both.

• Many more ideas/themes can be applied to “The Lottery”

“The Lottery”: End of presentation.